All of the Democratic candidates want out of Iraq. We are all united on this
point. From there, however, the details get a bit messy. Why is anyone surprised?
On the other side, pro war Republicans like McCain are running around Iraq
with vests on while being supported by 100
Soldiers, 3 Blackhawks, 2 Apache gunships, with Lindsay Graham bragging
that he “bought
five carpets for five bucks.” This is really embarrassing stuff from
the former party of Ronald Reagan.
Hillary Clinton is still using the line “If George Bush doesn’t get us
out of Iraq by the election, I will” (h/t Stoller),
which has got people perplexed. How can Clinton say she’ll
get us out of Iraq while saying troops need to stay? Some see it as a departure from her recent candor on Iraq, while others don’t care what she says. That’s fair. But Clinton gets it.
“Look, I think the American people are done with Iraq. … ..” Hillary Clinton
However, that reality didn’t keep Yglesias from blasting off the title: Clinton’s
Perpetual War. Is he kidding? Did he forget about Hillary’s number one advisor? Yglesias really believes Hillary Clinton wants
“perpetual war”? Yes, because John
Judis convinced him it is so.
As she recounts in her interview, her solution to Iraq rests partly on a
“very vigorous diplomatic effort on the political front and on the regional
and international front.” This would include “a track with Syria
and a track with Iran.” But the main part of the strategy would be its
military dimension.(snip)
Clinton says she doesn’t know how many U.S. troops her plan would require,
or how many military bases would be required to house them. But Michael Gordon
and Patrick Healy, who conducted the interview, noted that former Pentagon
comptroller Dov Zakheim, who has developed a strikingly similar plan, estimates
that 75,000 American troops would be needed to carry his plan out. That’s
about half of the current force stationed in Iraq.
While the guys talk amongst themselves, let’s chat, shall we?
I know there’s a negative reaction to Clinton on Iraq, which she earned through
her stubbornness to not apologize for her Iraq war vote. Frankly, I’m over it. We pushed
and we pushed and she said back off. Then she got serious and offered something in addition to the sound bites on which all candidates live and breathe. I can compromise with anyone after making a good faith effort to move their point of view, as well as be patient with politicians, both of which I did
when we tried but didn’t have the votes to get even stronger bills out of the Senate and
House. But at the root is one major element that plagues the thoughts of all of our candidates as they seriously think about taking over in ’09. They might actually have to inherit the mess Bush and the Republican 109th Congress made of Iraq, then do something about it without making matters worse. Oh,
and there’s one other thing.
“Al Qaeda is still humming along, and with a new generation
of leaders.” – Michael
Scheuer
…and al Anbar province is humming that same Al Qaeda tune.
No one knows what we will inherit in ’09. The news is getting worse, especially on Al Qaeda and Pakistan. But all Democrats want out of Iraq. It’s a national security and military imperative. Clinton knows the American people are done with this war. Edwards has walked away from his Iraq vote and then some.
Obama needs
to lose the nobody “wants
to play chicken with our troops” rhetoric and stop getting suckered
by the press, but he wants out, too. Biden is a very wise man on foreign policy,
though nobody in the blogosphere will give him the time of day, but he’s worried
about what we’ll inherit and is going one step further by asking another question. After we pull the troops out of Iraq, what’s next? It’s a very good question all Democrats, liberals and progressives better start thinking about, which our candidates are likely tackling right now.
But again, at least none of our candidates are running
around Iraq in vests buying rugs at desert prices in order to prove Baghdad
is booming. It’s booming all right.
Democrats want out of Iraq. But it’s going to be messy. Bank on it. The next president, if he or she is a Democrat, will get us out of there, but it will not be pretty or quick or without a lot
more compromising, including on troops levels and timelines. But at least we’re united. We all want out.
The Republicans are all over the map on Iraq, with some candidates actually saying they’d do exactly
what Mr. Bush is doing right now. Nothing is scarier than that.
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